Claudio Nunes (born 23 March 1968) is an Italian professional

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

player. He is a five-time world champion, a World Grand Master of the

World Bridge Federation The World Bridge Federation (WBF) is the international governing body of contract bridge. The WBF is responsible for world championship competitions, most of which are conducted at a few multi-event meets on a four-year cycle. The most prestigio ...

(WBF), and the WBF second-ranked player as of April 2011. He is one of 10 players who have won the Triple Crown of Bridge. Nunes was born in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. His regular partner for many years is Fulvio Fantoni, the first-ranked World Grand Master (April 2011). Fantoni-Nunes are generally regarded as one of the top pairs worldwide. They play "

Fantunes In the game of contract bridge Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking game, trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two Team game, competing partnerships, with par ...

", for their surnames, an innovative bidding system characterised by natural but forcing one-level opening bids in all four suits. The pair was implicated in a cheating scandal in 2015 resulting in sanctions against them.

Emigration to Monaco

Starting in 2011, Fantoni and Nunes were full-time members of a team led and paid by the Swiss real-estate tycoon Pierre Zimmermann, under contract expiring 2016. From 2012 all six members would be citizens of

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

and the team would represent Monaco internationally. The team finished third in the 2010 world championship, not yet full-time, and competed in the 2011 European Bridge League open championship (neither is a national teams event).

Cheating scandal

In September 2015, Fantoni and Nunes were publicly accused of cheating by orienting a played card to show a missing high honour (Ace, King, Queen) in the led suit at the European Bridge Championship in 2014. * On March 19, 2016, the FIGB banned the pair for three years. * On July 18, 2016, the European Bridge League (EBL) banned each from play for five years and as a partnership for life. * On July 26, 2016, the

American Contract Bridge League The American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) is a governing body for contract bridge in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Bermuda. It is the largest such organization in North America having the stated mission "to promote, grow and sustain the ...

(ACBL) expelled them from their league and stripped them of all related

masterpoints Masterpoints or master points are points awarded by bridge organizations to individuals for success in competitive duplicate bridge, bridge tournaments run under their auspices. Generally, recipients must be members in good standing of the issuing ...

, titles, ranks and privileges. The players' appeal to the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; , TAS) is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its courts are located in New York City, Sy ...

resulted in a judgment in their favor in January 2018.CAS 2016/A/4783 Fulvio Fantoni and Claudio Nunes v. European Bridge League (EBL)
Retrieved 3 February 2018 Only the ACBL sanction remains in place; all others have been overturned or expired.

Major tournament wins

Awards

Mott-Smith Trophy The Mott-Smith Trophy, named for writer and cryptographer Geoffrey Mott-Smith, is awarded to the player with the best overall individual performance in the Spring Nationals, the spring event of the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North Amer ...

(1) 2004

Wins

Bermuda Bowl The Bermuda Bowl is a biennial contract bridge world championship for national . It is contested every odd-numbered year under the auspices of the World Bridge Federation (WBF), alongside the Venice Cup (women), the d'Orsi Senior Bowl and the Wu ...

(1) 2005 World Team Championship Winners
/ref> *

World Transnational Open Teams Championship The World Transnational Open Teams Championship is a major side event conducted by the World Bridge Federation during the semifinal and final stages of its world championships for national teams at contract bridge—the Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup, an ...

(1) 2007 *

World Open Pairs Championship The World Open Pairs Championship is a contract bridge Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking game, trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two Team game, competin ...

(1) 2002 * World Olympiad Teams Championship (2) 2004, 2008 * European Teams Championship for Open Teams: 2004, 2006, 2012 * European Champions' Cup for Open Teams: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009 *

North American Bridge Championships North American Bridge Championships (NABC) are three annual contract bridge, bridge tournaments sponsored by the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL). The "Spring", "Summer", and "Fall" NABCs are usually scheduled in March, July, and November fo ...

(10) **

Wernher Open Pairs The Wernher Open Pairs national bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championships, North American Bridge Championship (NABC). Typically starting on the Tuesday of the NABC, the Wer ...

(1) 2004 **

Blue Ribbon Pairs The Edgar Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs (or simply the Blue Ribbon Pairs) is a national bridge championship held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The event is restricted to those that have wo ...

(1) 2006 **

Jacoby Open Swiss Teams The Jacoby Open Swiss Teams national bridge championship is held at the spring American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Jacoby Open Swiss Teams is a four session Swiss Teams event with two qualifying a ...

(1) 2003 **

Mitchell Board-a-Match Teams The Mitchell Board-a-Match Teams national bridge championship is held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). It is an open four session board-a-match event with two qualifying sessions and two ...

(1) 2004 **

Reisinger The Reisinger national bridge championship is held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Reisinger is a board-a-match event. History The event is contested for the Reisinger Trophy ( ...

(3) 2007, 2012, 2013 ** Roth Open Swiss Teams (1) 2005 **

Spingold The Spingold national bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Spingold is a knock-out team event that attracts the top contract bridge players in the world. T ...

(2) 2011, 2012

Runners-up

(3) 2003, 2009, 2013 World Team Championship Winners
/ref> * Cavendish Invitational Pairs (1) 2004 World Team Championship Winners
/ref> * Buffett Cup (2) 2010, 2012 *

(6) **

(1) 2004 ** Vanderbilt (1) 2014 **

(1) 2011 **

(3) 2006, 2010, 2014

Bridge accomplishments

Awards

(1) 2004

Wins

(1) 2005 World Team Championship Winners
/ref> *

(1) 2007 World Transnational Open Teams Winners
*

(1) 2002 * World Olympiad Teams Championship (2) 2004, 2008 *

(10) **

(1) 2004 **

(1) 2006 **

(1) 2003 **

(1) 2004 **

(3) 2007, 2012, 2013 ** Roth Open Swiss Teams (1) 2005 **

(2) 2011, 2012

Runners-up

(3) 2003, 2009, 2013 World Team Championship Winners
/ref> * Cavendish Invitational Pairs (1) 2004 World Team Championship Winners
/ref> * Buffett Cup (2) 2010, 2012 *

(6) **

(1) 2004 ** Vanderbilt (1) 2014 **

(1) 2011 **

(3) 2006, 2010, 2014

References

External links

* *
Biography
at Infobridge.it (Italian with crude English-language version) {{DEFAULTSORT:Nunes, Claudio 1968 births Italian contract bridge players Monegasque contract bridge players Bermuda Bowl players Italian emigrants to Monaco People of Lazian descent Sportspeople from Rome Living people